Kugatsu dai Juiichi
by Jack D
Summary: A little late night TV leads to a collision with history for the Ranma cast.


Kugatsu dai Juiichi  
  
by Jack D  
  
These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I lay no claim upon them and thank her for the use of them.  
  
Nabiki Tendo lazily munched on a potato chip as she sat before the TV. She could hear her older sister puttering around in the kitchen as was Kasumi's usual late night routine. Nabiki was waiting for the opening of the markets in New York. It was unusual for her to be up this late but the recent downturn in the Nikkei had persuaded her to begin investing in the New York Stock Exchange.  
  
Nabiki sighed and looked at her watch again. 10:56 PM, mentally she adjusted for the fourteen hour time difference, 8:56 AM New York time. Close enough, she mentally grinned and flipped the TV over to CNN. What she saw shocked her. She gasped in shock, staring numbed at the screen as she attempted to grasp what she was witnessing. Quickly she switched to a different news network, only to be faced with the same images.  
  
"Kasumi! Kasumi, come quick!" She cried with uncharacteristic fear in her voice.  
  
The eldest Tendo daughter rushed from the kitchen in her bathrobe, a dish towel in her hands and a worried expression her face.  
  
"What is it Nabiki? Are you alright?" She asked her younger sister with her usual concern.  
  
Nabiki couldn't turn her eyes from the screen as she pointed to the TV. In confusion Kasumi glanced at the monitor, and gasped in horror at what she found.  
  
Kasumi had been out of school for several years but she'd always been a good student. She'd found English to be a challenging and rewarding language to learn. So it was that she was quite proficient in reading and speaking the language of the west. But as she heard the words of the news reader and read the text scrolling by on the bottom of the screen she refused to believe her translation was correct.  
  
She found herself shaking her head a dazed expression crossing her pretty features.  
  
"Oh Kami-sama." She whispered.  
  
On the screen in vivid color was an image straight out of an adventure film. Two easily recognizable buildings took center stage, both identical with an off white concrete coloring backed by a clear blue sky and a bustling cityscape. The only thing to mar the image was the thick plume of black smoke billowing from the upper floors of the near tower and the coal black charred marks around a large gaping whole in the side of the structure.  
  
"They said a jet liner just flew into it." Nabiki trailed off obviously in shock.  
  
Kasumi barely acknowledged her sister as she could almost feel herself slipping into shock. It took a moment for Kasumi to realize what Nabiki had just said.  
  
Kasumi just gasped once more. She stared at the screen reading the CG at the bottom of the screen once more to be certain.  
  
-A BOEING 767 HAS COLLIDED WITH THE WORLD TRADE CENTER-  
  
It was just too unbelievable.  
  
Nabiki finally turned from the scene of horror and devastation before her and looked to her older sister. Kasumi was dazed, her eyes fixed on the image of the burning tower. Then almost in a trance she turned and walked quickly up the stairs.  
  
Nabiki blinked, unable to comprehend why her sister had run away. Somewhere inside, Nabiki felt almost as if Kasumi had abandoned her to face this alone. It was only a moment or two later that Kasumi returned, their father rubbing his eyes blearily as she tugged on his arm. Behind him was Genma Saotome, his wife Nodoka, their son Ranma and her little sister Akane.  
  
Soun Tendo frowned. For some reason Kasumi had woken him at this ungodly hour without a word of explanation. The only reason he didn't just shake her off and go back to bed was the look in her eyes. It was something he rarely saw in her, fear and shock. The last time he'd seen her like this was after his wife had died. For one terrible moment he feared that something might have happened to one of his precious daughters. He spotted Nabiki sitting before the TV, apparently uninjured and his confusion returned.  
  
"What is this about Kasumi?" Genma gruffed. One thing he hated was missing sleep.  
  
"Yeah" Ranma yawned. "What gives?"  
  
"Nabiki are you alright?" Akane asked her older sister.  
  
"Yes dear, is there anything the matter?" Nodoka asked as she tucked a few errant locks behind her ear.  
  
Nabiki shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. She was finally overcoming her shock and faced the rest of her family. They had all entered the dining room and were focused on her. All but Ranma who's attention had shifted to the television.  
  
"What movie's this? Never seen this one before."  
  
Nabiki just frowned at him.  
  
"It's not a movie Ranma. This is live from New York. Someone flew an airliner full of passengers into the World Trade Center." She spoke in her normal emotionless tone but they could all see the emotion in her eyes.  
  
Akane gasped, "Oh no!"  
  
The two fathers looked equally incredulous. Nodoka's jaw dropped as she stared at the smoking building. Quickly they took their seats around the table. Ranma and Akane did likewise; Akane chose to sit just a little closer to Ranma than usual.  
  
As the family gazed in rapt fascination at the events unfolding half a world away the news people off camera continued their commentary.  
  
-We have received unconfirmed reports that the plane was a 767 or possibly a 757. We have been unable to determine the extent of the damage but fire officials have confirmed the fact that it was an aircraft and not a bomb.-  
  
"What did he say?" Ranma asked quietly.  
  
Akane would normally have criticized him for not studying hard enough in English class but she was too shocked to do so. She just repeated what the announcer had said in Japanese.  
  
Genma pointed to the screen. "What is that?"  
  
The others looked to the small silhouette of an airplane approaching from the right hand side of the screen.  
  
There was an almost surreal moment in which things seemed to move in slow motion, not just on screen but in the room as well. Nabiki shook her head in denial. Kasumi gave in and allowed the tears to flow gently down her cheeks. Nodoka gasped. Akane took Ranma's hand; he pulled her closer with his free arm.  
  
Then with almost unyielding accuracy the second plane flew behind the first tower then seconds later a ball of flame erupted from the front of the undamaged tower. It spread upwards and out away from the building searing the exterior walls. The column of smoke rose up to merge with its twin both being blown towards the harbor by the prevailing winds.  
  
"This can't be real." Ranma said in a quiet disbelieving voice.  
  
"Oh Kami-sama." Nodoka whispered.  
  
-I don't believe it! I don't believe it. Another airliner has collided with the South Tower of the World Trade Center. This cannot be an accident this can only be an act of terrorism against the United States- The announcer was saying.  
  
"All those people." Akane cried. "They're trapped up there, they- they." She turned from the screen and buried her face in Ranma's chest, crying for souls she likely would never have met.  
  
Ranma just surrounded her in his arms saying nothing, just staring in amazement at the TV.  
  
For several minutes they all watched in silence as the proud towers, symbols of American economical success burned from the mortal wounds. The commentators continued rattling off details and speculation, talking much but saying very little. Then came another report.  
  
-We have reports from our corespondents in Washington that there has been an explosion of some sort at the Pentagon! To repeat there has been an explosion at the Pentagon.-  
  
"What's going on? Who's doing this? Are the American's at war?" Akane asked hopelessly.  
  
No one could answer. Soun was tearing up as usual but at least this time it had some meaning behind it. Genma just sat stoically, not allowing his inner confusion to show as he comforted his wife. As for Nodoka she was clutching Genma's pajamas trying to be strong but failing as her emotions overwhelmed her.  
  
The youngsters weren't much better. Kasumi was openly crying also as she held onto Nabiki for support. The middle Tendo daughter schooled her features, appearing calm and collected while inside a hundred doubts and fears assailed her. She held Kasumi as much to support her sister as to comfort herself.  
  
Akane cried onto Ranma's shoulder. She couldn't keep herself from seeing all the people on those planes, and the countless numbers in the two buildings that she knew were dead or would be soon. Ranma just held her, his arms offering her his strength as that was all he could give her now. He too could imagine what it must have been like on the planes and in the offices that even now he was watching burn up on international television.  
  
*****  
  
For minutes that seemed like hours, they sat staring at the images beamed to them from around the world. The same images repeated over and over as different experts and authorities talked about the ramifications of that morning's attacks.  
  
For the extended family in the living room that night the events taking place in America were finally sinking in. America had been attacked by terrorists. Men had taken control of several airliners and used them as weapons against men and women in New York and Washington. Reports of other unconfirmed attacks came in but they never materialized. So far the worst they'd seen was in New York itself.  
  
"What kind of cowards do that?" Ranma muttered harshly.  
  
"Terrorists are not martial artists my son, nor are they soldiers. They find glory in harming the weak because they fear to face the strong." Genma intoned.  
  
Soun just grunted in agreement.  
  
"That still don't make it right to hurt people who can't fight back." Ranma growled.  
  
"Not everyone in the world follows your code Saotome." Nabiki countered.  
  
Ranma just huffed. "Well maybe they should! Maybe things would be."  
  
"Oh no!" Kasumi cried.  
  
"Ranma look!" Akane grabbed him and turned him towards the screen.  
  
"Oh my god," Nabiki whispered.  
  
On the screen they watched as the South Tower toppled like a redwood. Its outer skin buckling and twisting then the rest of the structure collapsing as the family looked on. In seconds all that remained of the tower was a grey cloud of dust and smoke billowing up from the ground.  
  
By this time there were cameras on the streets around the burning buildings and soon they could see the horror from a more human perspective. People running from the huge white cloud that billowed out from the site of the disaster.  
  
No one spoke as they watched the footage played and replayed over and over again. The announcers spoke back and forth speculating and remarking on the events.  
  
Then a report came in that another plane had crashed. This time however it hadn't hit another building but a field south of Pittsburgh. The minimal devastation of this last attack was scant comfort in the face of such tragedy.  
  
Once more the family sat in silence watching as the cameras remained trained on the remaining monolith. The burning black smoke merged with the rising cloud of dust. Then almost a half-hour after its twin had fallen they watched as the TV antenna on the top of the tower wobbled.  
  
"It's going too." Nabiki stated.  
  
As she spoke the top of the World Trade Center shuddered then fell. It fell straight down almost like an elevator, smoke billowing from it like a bellows. Soon another tower rose from the ground, a pillar of dust and debris.  
  
What more could be said? What more could be seen? Images replayed on the screen for hours but they couldn't watch them. Ranma took Akane to her room, where he sat with her as she tried to sleep. Genma and Nodoka returned to their room as well. Soon even Kasumi and Nabiki went to bed, or at least tried to; it wasn't an easy night for anyone.  
  
Early in the morning on September 12th after Akane had fallen into a fitful sleep Ranma found his future father in law in the dojo. He was kneeling before the family shrine.  
  
Ranma watched and thought about what he'd seen that night and shed his own tears.  
  
*******  
  
I, like many Americans, watched these events on TV from the perceived safety of my office. I've incorporated some of my experiences on that morning into this story. One of my co-workers did in fact think we were watching a movie, and some people were overcome with emotion. Most of us though were just stunned.  
  
I started this on the September 16th 2001. I've been waiting to put it out but was worried about how it would be accepted, or rejected. It wasn't my intention to make light of this disaster but to help me deal with my own feelings on the subject. Creative comments are welcome. Thank you for reading. 


End file.
